Team Work 257
October 30, 2020
Stephanie scrubs her hands together, takes a deep breath. The train keeps on rolling, no matter what else may be going on around them. It's comforting as much as it is exhausting. She smiles slightly, cracks her knuckles over-exaggeratedly, and begins work on booking the night ahead with a pleased glint in her eye.
To start the night off, Eddie Kingston faces off with Sheamus and after a handhitting affair, walks out the victor. Montez Ford defeats Hangman Page, and Tasha Steelz teams up with Serena Deeb against Lana and Keira Hogan, finding success after Deeb pulls Lana off of the apron and leaves her unable to break up the pin. Mansoor's winning streak remains in tact in tag action with Angelo Dawkins against Drew McIntyre and Rich Swann.
Santos Escobar laughs smugly after soundly defeating Tommy Dreamer. Johnny Gargano reluctantly partners with Curt Stallion and, to the surprise of everyone, including himself, Stallion is amenable to everything Johnny suggests and ultimately they work well enough together to win against Cody and Jey Uso.
Following this, Io Shirai faces off against Rhea Ripley. They know each other fairly well, by this point, and the match is quick, a little brutal. Neither woman pulls their punches as they meet in the middle, brawl it out. Io is a little more daring than Rhea typically is, and takes to the ropes a couple of times. It doesn't always pan out for her, once Rhea snags her out of midair and slings her down harshly, the impact on the mat leaving her writhing in pain for a good ten seconds, her mind wiped of all thought as agony overwhelms her senses, but she gathers herself, she fights back, and the next time she takes the ropes, Rhea is down after a bodyslam and Io lands a solid moonsault, forcing the breath from Rhea's lungs, and quickly pinning her before she can recover. Io laughs as her arm is raised to mark the victory, eyes glinting with happiness as she absorbs the moment. Another point for her towards this cycle.
Jonathan Gresham defeats Gran Metalik, and AJ Styles wins against Lince Durado. Kenny Omega walks out victorious over Keith Lee, and Larry D only just sneaks out a win against Bianca BelAir in intergender competition. Moses is successful over Shane Taylor, and Kaun wins in triple threat action over Acey Romero and Shawn Spears.
In the main event, Kevin Owens faces off with Brian Kendrick. Kendrick circles Owens a couple of times, a steady, determined look on his face not wavering once as the bell rings and Owens approaches. Kendrick is crafty, Owens likes to fight dirty. The two spend the first couple of minutes feeling each other out, seeing how far they can take things before the action amps up. Kendrick lands a slap followed by an elbow to the face that staggers Owens briefly, Owens returns the favor with a knee to the gut that sends Kendrick momentarily to his knees. They eye each other, circling enough to reset things. When they meet up again, then the action really begins.
Kendrick keeps trying to weaken Kevin's arms, send him off center, making it easier to sink him to his knees to lock in the Captain's Hook, but it's clear he's just going for all around damage, not too locked in on that one bit of strategy. If he sees an opening, he takes it, landing blows across Kevin's sternum, his chest, kicking his legs out from under him, wrenching on his arms. It's slow, it's methodical, and it's kind of working because Owens is fast, yeah, but Kendrick is smaller, and he's always somehow a step ahead, his decades in the business maintaining him well even against Owens' expertise.
Then Owens snags him, lifts him high, and hits the popup powerbomb. He sits there for a moment, sure this is it, before hooking his leg and pinning him. But then Kendrick is kicking out and, yeah, ok, that was a two count. The match continues. Kendrick's slow, methodical offense continues wearing down at Owens, and he's almost not sure how it happens, but he finds himself getting sent up and then twisted back down in Sliced Bread #2, which is a move he's never realized is that disorienting. When Kendrick slides easily into Captain's Hook, Owens writhes, trying to get some separation, planting his feet and trying to break out of the move, but damn, it's more difficult than he'd realized.
But it works, after a few moments of agony creeping up through his neck, down his spine. Owens gets some leverage and breaks the hold, panting for breath afterwards, holding his neck, staggering upright and glaring at Kendrick, who looks nonplussed by the whole thing. When he rushes forward again, Owens is ready this time, hooks an arm and- STUNNER! Kendrick lands heavily, and Owens drops down unceremoniously upon his prone body, relieved when this time the three count is achieved, the bell rings and he can now breathe a little easier once more. His neck aches, but he's won, and that's all that matters in this moment.